1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for reusing photoreceptor and gear assemblies used, for example, in photographic reproduction machines.
2. Description of Related Art
The recovery and reuse of machine components is commonplace among manufacturers of sophisticated electronic equipment, such as photographic reproduction machines. The impetus for the recovery and reuse of these components is both environmental and economic. At the heart of any photographic reproduction machine or copier is a photoreceptor assembly ("P/R assembly"). One part of the assembly is a photoreceptor which is rotated to reproduce images. Typically, this photoreceptor is rotated using a gear assembly which is also a part of the P/R assembly. This rotation requires that the gear assembly be attached to the photoreceptor. Conventionally, a portion of the gear assembly is glued to the inside surface of a hollow, cylinder-shaped photoreceptor. When such a photoreceptor is no longer functional, the gear assembly must then be separated from the photoreceptor. In practice, efforts to separate the gear assembly and photoreceptor have proven unsatisfactory since this requires a great dear of time and care to assure that the photoreceptor and gear assembly are not damaged upon breaking the glued seal with the photoreceptor. Many times the gear assembly is cracked or broken, parts of it remaining glued to the inside of the photoreceptor. Likewise, the photoreceptor's surface is damaged due to the force required to break the glued seal. There is therefore a need for a glueless method of securing and then removing gear assemblies from the inside surface of photoreceptors which allows the gear assemblies and photoreceptors to be reused.